Bottle Design:
Peter Schmidt

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Sun Jil Sander 1989 Eau de Toilette

7.0 / 10 1408 Ratings

A perfume by Jil Sander for women, released in 1989. The scent is sweet-floral. It is being marketed by Coty.
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Main accords

Sweet

Floral

Powdery

Creamy

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Orange blossom

Bergamot

Fruits

Lemon

Heart Notes

Ylang-ylang

Heliotrope

Carnation

Lily of the valley

Orris root Rose

Rose

Base Notes

Vanilla

Benzoin

Musk

Styrax

Tonka bean Amber

Amber

Sandalwood

Perfumer

Pierre Bourdon

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Ratings

Scent

7.01408 Ratings

Longevity

7.81141 Ratings

Sillage

7.61070 Ratings

Bottle

5.91084 Ratings

Value for money

8.8589 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 11/17/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Miro Soleil

Chic

Suddenly Summer

Beach Party

Summer Vanilla

Yellow Light

Reviews

126 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/31/2017

Germanblonde
85 Reviews

Germanblonde

Helpful Review 4

Sun - my biggest love affair in a bottle

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sun. It truly is summer in a bottle and draws a lot of compliments. But I am partial. Jil Sander and Guerlain are my favorite fragrance houses, and Sun is my favorite Jil Sander frag and my signature fragrance. When wearing her a beautiful sunny day on a beach comes to mind, a woman wearing a long, white, laced bohemian dress, walking barefoot in the sand, the wind playing with her long, blonde hair - that is Sun to the T. Perfect for a beautiful bride at a beach wedding. Not a perfume for hot summer days, but days that are warm, beautiful with lots of warm wind, the sun glowing with an orange tint rather than a bright yellow. A great fragrance for the month of August and early September days. Not a crisp or fresh summer fragrance, but one with a romantic, nostalgic feel to it. When I wear Sun, my man can't keep from burying his head in my hair when we snuggle up. You will receive a lot of kisses wearing this beauty. Sun gets us in a romantic mood way faster than any other fragrance I own (and I own over a 100 frags).

I have enough back up bottles of Sun to last me for a long, long time, because if I should ever be out of this beauty with no way to re-purchase, I will pull out my hair in misery.

If I were stranded on an island and allowed to have only one fragrance with me, it would be her. She is so me, so feminine, and so comforting. I could go on and on raving about this beauty. She is my absolute favorite. Me and Sun will be a love affair with no end in sight.

PS: I am sure it is as lovely on brunettes, redheads or short haired gals. To me it just has a feel that it fits to the T on a longhaired blonde. And my hair is not that long, either. It is just a visual perception that comes to mind when I smell this lovely summer scent.

03/18/2022

9Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Machtnix
10 Reviews

Machtnix

Helpful Review 4

Iconic

It is still an amazing scent. the big difference is the performance, which is still ok - it is not a weak scent by any means. But it used to be beast-mode. It was in 2001 when I noticed it the last time on a woman who made an entire hotel lobby smell like her.

The dry-down is similar to Gaultier 2 which has been discontinued. Sun is sweeter, more feminine, not as pure, lovelier in my book, not linear, and has yellow florals. I like SUN better.

The opening is mediocre - not very impressive. more yellow floral and I think I get a galbanum note. nevermind, the dry down is phenomenal. Men love that scent on women. I do. Anyone who has the patience to wait like 45 minutes, notices more and more that similarity to Gaultier 2 from Francis Kurkdjan. I own both and can compare them side by side. By the way, Gaultier 2 was released after SUN. So if there has been an "inspired by", then it was Kurkdjan who was inspired by Pierre Bourdon's SUN, not the other way around.

It's not that potent anymore, but honestly - who needs that. it is still a great women's fragrance, and when SUN has been launched more than 30 years ago, it was totally out of the box. nevertheless, it became popular because it is so lovely. therefore I call it iconic, and underrated nowadays.

07/09/2025

8Scent 5Longevity 6Sillage

MrsGuerlain
555 Reviews

MrsGuerlain

2

Here comes the Sun

Reading the very diverse reviews on Sun I must say I lean to the positive side. To me, Sun is a really good, well composed fragrance with lots of nuances and a really heavy base. Being from 1989 I am not amazed that it is so heavy since a lot of the 80s’ frags are heavy. This has the same charm as Dali 1983. A round, warm and creamy fragrance that has loads of floral notes in the heart. I am sure that if a fragrance named Sun had been released today it would have been much lighter.
It starts out fresh citric, mainly due to the bergamot. The orange blossom note soon takes over and sweetens the scent a bit. But I smell orris from the start, giving the fragrance a somewhat mosquito repellent feeling. Not bad, just worth mentioning. Perhaps that explains some people’s negative comments? I appreciate the bitter herbal note, since it keeps the fragrance from becoming cloying. However, I do understand that the note can be annoying to others. After some time the fragrance moves toward a sweeter expression. The flowers and the vanilla come out to play and the fragrance stays there for one to two hours. Finally it turns creamy-sweet with a soapy touch. It lasts at least 5-6 hours, depending on the weather.
The bottle is quite cute. It has a sun lotion look to it, a bit like the Piz Buin bottles. It suits the fragrance perfectly. I would not hesitate before buying a bottle.
Year 2, 56/365

08/23/2023

3.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Ringtale
136 Reviews

Ringtale

1

Candyfloss...

Had this when it first came out, everybody had this when it first came out actually. It was a real hype and I still smell it every summer on at least two or three people a month.
I'm sorry, but I don't like it. It reminds me of candyfloss or cotton candy. Way too heavy on the vanilla. It doesn't remind me of summer, beaches or suntan lotions at all, it reminds me of the fair.
If I would like to wear it, I'd rather wear this in fall and winter than in summer because I find this a very 'warm' scent. A bit cloying as well.
Sorry to those who do like this, but I can't like it.

08/15/2024

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Czarcasm
77 Reviews

Czarcasm

1

Heavy but summery...

This is quite a heavy and creamy scent for summer, yet it does fit summer. I love Sun despite it having been around longer than I have been.

It opens with a strong blend of fruits and flowers. The orange flower and cassis take center stage. Already I can smell the powdery orris root and the amber.
What stands out to me is that Sun remains almost the same fragrance throughout the day, it just becomes more muted as time goes on. The orange flower and cassis balance out with the other notes, but nothing else takes center stage after them.

Sun lasts for nearly the entire day on my skin, and personally I find it rather strong sillage wise. Sun is fairly inexpensive price wise, and it makes for great value. The bottle could be better and lacks some imagination.

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